Hey everyone...love the forum and have been learning a lot. I recently acquired a 97 DX with D16Y7 and have been reading around H-T trying to decide what to do to this thing to make it more fun. Members like Spade and soccaian have been especially helpful. For the record, I'm no newb when it comes to wrenchin on Hondas (stock ones) but am pretty wet behind the ears with respect to the aftermarket scene. I was hoping to get some feedback concerning my "wish list" of engine mods. Here we go:

Intake:
idea(s) - 96-00 EX Y8 IM and head (this is a minime right?)
- CAI (not sure what brand yet, still need to search H-T but feedback is
welcome)
- 60 or 62mm throttle body
question - Was wondering if Greddy's turbo kit for 96-00 EX (pn: 11550050 on
greddy.com) would work on above swap. This would be way down the
road anyways.

Exhaust:
idea(s) - From what I've read, headers for an EX (or Y8) will be fine even on the
Y7 head with a little cat manipulation and pipe fabrication right? If that's
the case, no worries there...have had to fab many an exhaust for my
jeep after offroading.
question - Have noticed lots of varying opinions on here about exhaust setups. My
thing is (and no offense to anyone) that I really don't like that empty rattle
"fart-can" sound of many rice-mobiles rollin around chicago. I never really
gave a **** what my exhaust sounded like on my jeep so building an
exhaust for both performance AND sound will be new to me. Ideas?

Engine:
idea(s) - would like to drop an aftermarket cam into the Y8 head when I get around
to swapping it. That and beefing up the valve train a bit.
question - is it worth it?

Here's a pic of my bone stock engine bay...why? cuz I'm a newb and wanna see if I can get a pic to post.



Hope this post isn't too redundant for most. Thanks in advance for your thoughts and hope I can show off some of your ideas and advice in the future.

 

Good ideas? Bad ideas? Is my wish list too cliche?

 

It sounds like you've got a pretty good idea of what you want to do so far. I think your wish list is not too much at all. Actually, it not only sounds very reasonable, but practical as well. You can bolt on almost any stock Honda TB, just to keep that in mind. Since you said Spade has helped, I assume that you've read his SOHC article- if not, I'll give you the link. Can I be of anymore help?

 

Yeah, I read his D-series mod page...great stuff . Like I mentioned, I really enjoy wrenching on Hondas...knew they had tons of potential, but never knew mods were so abundant and affordable! Thanks a bunch for your feedback. When I finally get around to any of this stuff I'll definitely post and give credit where credit is due.

 

Well, the more you read, the more informed you will be. Props for doing research before asking.

You basically have a nice, clean slate. The world is your oyster. The more you read and learn, the more clear it will become as to what will be appropriate for you.

The primary rule: don't cut corners. Buy quality parts. You absolutely get what you paid for. Son't expect huge gains from bolt-ons. Turbo or big NA build will be big seat-of-the-pants gains.

Be patient. Read, read, read.

Good luck in the project.